The number three was very much on the minds of the members of the St. Marguerite d’Youville Panthers senior boys basketball team on Monday night.

Not only did the Panthers claim their third consecutive Region of Peel Secondary School Athletic Association (ROPSSAA) Tier 1 title but the No. 3 seeded Panthers used the three-ball to do it as they stunned the No. 1 Fletcher’s Meadow Arrows 40-35 at Sheridan College.

Panthers coaches Carlo Zoffranieri and Mike MacKenzie have stressed all season that their undersized team would have to shoot well from outside to have a chance at repeating its title and that’s exactly what they did in the final.

D’Youville made 10 three-point shots, hitting only one two-point bucket the entire game and managed to control the tempo against the bigger Arrows, who had gone unbeaten during the ROPSSAA season, including a win over d’Youville.

“This one was the hardest,” said Zoffranieri when asked if this was the sweetest of the three consecutive titles for the school. The coach was proud of the way his team has battled this season.

“These guys worked hard, they worked harder than anyone else and they earned this,” he said of the title.

All those long hours that he had them in the gym working on shooting paid off. Because the Arrows have several shot blockers he knew going inside was not an option on offense.

D’Youville build a lead of as much as 11 points with 1:15 remaining in the third quarter. The Panthers did not hit a field goal over the final quarter, scoring all eight of their points from the foul line, all coming in the final three minutes.

Dylan Periana led the way with 14 points, with three three-pointers and five-of-six from the line over the final minute. Chris Oppong finished with nine points. Jazz Rai managed six, Charles Amponsah five, Kevin Ramos and Brandon Halliburton three points apiece.

Point guard Jonathan McKay led the Arrows with 13 points, including 11 of 15 from the line. Denzell Taylor and Richard Iheadindu had five points apiece with Shadeem Archer and Kadeem Guevara getting three points each. Archer hit a long-range three-pointer at the buzzer at the end of the first quarter to tie the contest at 9-9.

Both teams have qualified for the Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association (OFSAA) 4A championship which runs from Monday, March 7 to Wednesday, March 9 in London.